As I sat reading through blog posts and news articles this evening, two separate pieces kept nagging at my thoughts. The first was a description of a CDC survey showing that ONE THIRD of pregnant US teens did not think they could get pregnant at the time they had intercourse1. That number equates to over 100,000 US pregnancies a year to girls who did not think they could get pregnant. The second piece was a mother’s lament at Hollywood’s portrayal of childbirth2. She feels the catastrophic, painful, frantic childbirth shown in popular media is not only unrealistic, but may result in a society of terrified women and an increase in elective caesarean births. The tie that binds these two situations is a lack of education. It is appalling to think that girls old enough to engage in intercourse are that blind to the simple mechanics of human reproduction. It is equally appalling that expectant mothers in our country suffer from a lack of confidence in their ability to give birth. Both of these scenarios can be changed with effective and evidence-based childbirth education. Now, the question is how we change the public perception of sex, pregnancy and childbirth so that it is seen as a healthy, normal process that should not be feared nor taken lightly. We owe this to every woman of childbearing age and every girl that will have children in future generations. 1. http://teens.webmd.com/news/20120119/cdc-many-teen-moms-didnt-think-they-could-get-pregnant2. http://www.thedickinsonpress.com/event/article/id/54810/group/Opinion/